Ernhart & Associates: Fundraising Consultants For Non-Profit And Religious Groups

Endorsement of Ernhart & Associates

Churches

"There were two clear objectives we had in mind for the campaign to be successful. The first objective was to raise adequate money to meet our capital and current financial needs. The second objective was to become a healthier more vibrant congregation through this campaign. Your leadership has enabled us to accomplish both of these objectives and we are truly grateful.

Needless to say, in over fifty years I have been involved in more campaigns than you want to know about. In my recollection, the job you did for us ranks at the top. You listened to our needs and then responded with appropriate leadership. Most especially, I am impressed with the time you took to sit with and listen to individual families. You are much more intentional about that than any other company I have known. What a gift that has been to St. Luke. You did for us what we could not do alone."

Rev. Robert T. Cuthill, DMin
Retired-Former Synod Executive, Synod of Lakes and Prairies, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Member, St. Luke Presbyterian Church
Wayzata, MN 55391

"The strongest part of his program is the personal interviews segment where he meets with as many persons from the parish as possible. Through his questions, his listening skills, and the confidentiality of the interviews, people have a chance to express their thoughts, their hopes, their criticisms, and their doubts, and know that they have been heard and understood. It was through the strengths of these interviews that our program was so successful. The pledges were sought following these interviews, with careful training and assistance by Jim. The results pleasantly surprised us all, and were very gratifying."

Dr. David A. Young, Pastor
Hope Lutheran Church
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

"Once again, I want to thank you and your fine staff for the assistance in orchestrating our crucial financial plan. You helped us refine our dream to a project that will fulfill nicely our needs but not overburden us with unrealistic debt. As a pastor, I will sleep better. As a steward of God, I believe that we have prudently counted the cost. The feasibility study that you did has influenced the entire project and has lowered the 'controversy quotient.' Our church family believes that we can do this."

Rev. Ronald G. Blix
Christ Community Church
United Methodist
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

"Our funding program had very specific needs. We needed down-to-earth, sincere Christian persons. We needed persons with broad experience in church and non-profit funding. It was also on our list of needs to find someone who could present the spiritual aspect of church growth without going overboard. Finally we needed strong guidance in how to talk to people about their pocketbooks. This was 100% fulfilled by the firm of Ernhart and Associates.

These folks always kept their appointments. The meetings never went over an hour. They shook hands and remembered names and looked people in the eyes with consummate skill. They fine-tuned their procedures to fit our needs, thus making us feel like we were their most important client. They taught us to be natural about witnessing to our faith by their own natural way of speaking about God's role. Jim is an utterly believable optimist."

Pastor Brian Gentz
Immanual Lutheran Church ELCA
Washington, IA 52353

"I appreciated your Christian values, and the fact that you seem to know exactly what the mission of a parish should be -- much less the nature of the Gospel itself. I also saw that you extended yourself far beyond what I would have expected; interviewing far more parisioners than normal, going until all who wanted were interviewed. You also took the time to join with us in our various parish meetings. Your advice was solid and your optimism was infectious to the rest of my pastoral and finance councils."

Father Dale Tupper
Queen of Angels Parish
Austin, MN 55912

"I want to thank you for your work. I am pleased with the way your program has unified and revitalized our parish. I knew before we started that it was going to take the work of an especialy gifted and energized firm to get the attention of our parish. As I have mentioned to you before, I especailly liked the way you treated everyone in the parish equally. I believe this manner of treatment will leave the people with a good feel for future years."

Father Cletus Connors, OSB
Church of St. Boniface
Cold Spring, MN 56320

"As you might expect, I think one of the most valuable parts of your service to us was the personal interviews in which about 56% of our congregation participated. I believe this opportunity for input contributed to the enthusiastic and near unanimous support from our congregation for the building of our sanctuary, as well as acceptance of the fact that we would not be adding classrooms at this time. At the same time, these interviews surfaced other input about the ministry of our congregation. With the interviews done, the rest of the capital campaign was fairly simple."

Rev. Vance Becker
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
Mankato, MN 56003

"Ernhart & Associates were just what our congregation needed. A no- nonsense approach to a capital campaign.

The meetings were concise and to the point.Their step-by-step method was easy to follow and left no doubt as to what was expected of our volunteers.

We used less volunteer hours than past campaigns and achieved similar results. Jim and his team helped us to raise enough funds to cover our three-year payment plan with enough excess to make a substantial principal reduction.

Of the three campaigns that I have been involved in, this was by far the smoothest and most productive."

Brian Meech
Congregational President
Trinity Lutheran Church and School
Fergus Falls, MN 56537